


Where

by GalekhXigisi



Category: Carmen Sandiego (Cartoon 2019)
Genre: Child Abandonment, It isn't stated but it's implied, Men Crying, Player (Carmen Sandiego 2019) is Soft, Season 2 spoilers, Trans Player, Trans Player (Carmen Sandiego 2019), it's cs what do you expect
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2020-11-09 08:00:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20850116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalekhXigisi/pseuds/GalekhXigisi
Summary: Carmen and Player talk about Player's family.





	Where

Player slowly pushes away from the desk with a sigh. “Red, I don’t  _ know,” _ he supplies softly as he stands, stretching with a yawn. “I’ve been alone for as long as I can remember.” 

She hums from the other side of the screen. “So, that bit about your parents with Shadowsan,” she asks, a brow raised. 

Player gives a half-hearted glare at his friend. She sits at the pique of elegance, a leg crossed over the other, hands settled and folded on her knee. She doesn’t look the least bit out of her element, but that was just the air Carmen always had to her. She was strong and confident, flaunting herself and happy to be who she was, despite not actually  _ knowing. _ She was a million times different from the boy with no leads to any family at all, just the boy who got around on petty theft until he learned how to hack a computer at the age of three. 

“Just a bit,” murmurs the teenager attempting to pop his back. A series of cracks and pops follow his sharp movements. “You know how it is, Red,” he tries. 

She shakes her head. “No, not really. I think Zack and Ivy would know about that a lot more than I do.” 

Player scoffs in return, shaking his hand at her. “Yeah, I know, Carm. They understand the entire  _ “orphan that doesn’t want to be illegal and is kinda on the run” _ shtick, huh?” He makes sure Carmen can see the quotation marks he does. “Now, I guess we’ve got  _ everyone _ on us?” 

“ACME, VILE, police,” she counts on her fingers, smiling as her eyes lull from one side to the next, a smirk on her red lips. “Everyone with knowledge of what I’ve done, et cetera. Guess all we’re really missing is any of those parental services or whatever it is.” 

“We just call that  _ The System,” _ he provides. Child Protective Services weren’t  _ technically _ any genuine part of  _ The System _ that he was talking about, but they had connections to orphanages, which managed to get them bundled into that. “But it’s typically Child Protective Cervices that you’re talking about, I think.” He thinks so, he’s actually pretty sure, but there was always a  _ maybe there’s something else _ to Carmen that he could never pinpoint. Either way, he got along with his best friend and she certainly got along with him, getting each other on an entire level that no one else could rival. 

“I guess so,” she rolls off with, standing up to stretch on her own. “I just don’t understand why you did it.” 

“My neighbors know I’m a kid that supposedly has parents that have completely left me alone since I was seven when I first walked into this house. They know I go grocery shopping at seven on Saturday nights every other week while being on the phone with a girl I’ve always called Carm the entire time. They now that I don’t really leave my house outside of that unless I have to. Do you know how up my ass they last got when you had to take me to the hospital with the lie that you’re my sister?” 

Carmen lets out a snort, getting more comfortable on the couch displayed in front of the computer’s screen. Her legs fold, settled on the couch as she leans against the arm. “Yeah, I remember.” 

“They’re still mouthing off about the fact that Zack and Ivy delivered those three drives. At this point, I’m pretty sure they’re trying to be my parents instead.” 

She smiles at the screen as he sits down in his chair. “Sounds like them. Is it still Analise and Copper?” 

“They have a daughter now, too, Pepper. They just adopted her two days ago. She’s about three, but she’s loud.” 

She nods along to his words, following them as he goes off on a tangent about the couple next door and their daughter. She had never actually met them, but she had seen the couple the last time she was up there. After a few moments of Player skirting around the topic of his parents, she asks, “Have you looked so see if there’s anyone on the ACME files that could fit your parents?” 

“What am I supposed to go by,” he asks with a raised brow. “I don’t have a last name. It’s  _ literally _ always been Player “Peter” White Hat. I highly doubt there’s anyone in there with the name Hat under their belt.” 

“You came up with Player after you thought I didn’t like the name White Hat,” she recounts with a content expression, relaxed against the couch’s siding. “I’m sure you could run some sort of facial recognition? You got a lot of possibilities for my mom the same way, didn’t you?” 

“This is different,” he whispers in a somber tone. He looks down at his keyboard. He’s already tried and he’s certainly come up with a lot of possibilities. “We had your dad to go by then, too, and the possible features for your mom, as well as names and traceable accounts from what happened there. We don’t have any of that here or now. I was just a kid that…” Player tries to keep his words steady. “That had the…” He hums, a tear falling down his cheek that he quickly wipes away. “Carm, I was just two and a half when I was abandoned in literal  _ woods. _ There was nothing there, either. I’ve gone back and looked enough times to-” 

“I know,” she comforts from the other side of the screen, no longer a million miles away, just a few thousand. “I know, Player.” 

Player sniffles as he wipes his face. He doesn’t  _ cry. _ Carmen cries, Zack cries, _ Ivy _ cries, but  _ Player? _ Player doesn’t cry, not in front of the others, not in front of  _ her. _ He doesn’t want to cry in front of his friend. He ducks his head and turns away. “Sorry, Red. It’s just… It’s still  _ a lot.” _

Carmen knows the story. She knows the bits he’s been about to talk about. She knows that he was only ten when she got in contact with him. Now, he was fifteen and just beginning to finally be able to  _ really _ open up about it. Even when he did, it was strained. She had no problem with waiting it out. 

“I can’t talk too much about my past, either, Player.” 

“That’s a lie,” he accuses, though there’s no anger to it. She knows exactly what he means. “You go face to face with all of your past almost daily. I don’t have any sort of way to possibly trace any of my family.” 

“I know.” 

There were a million difference to them. Player, who didn’t know a thing about his past, and Carmen, who had a million different trails that she was finally conquering. 

“Imagine how Analise and Copper are gonna react when you tell them Shadowsan is your dad.” 

He lets out a laugh, wiping his face again. He focuses on her with a smile. “They’re gonna be  _ so _ pissed.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Me: *just wrote that*   
Me: Wow, I have no memory of what I wrote except a vague bit about the ending
> 
> Also, the knew season was beautiful and I adored it. I really do hope that there's another season and it's not over now. There was supposed to be 20 episodes but there's only 19 so let's hope that they won't release one last episode where they "tie loose ends (they don't)" and they actually release another season. I really do love this show. 
> 
> Anyways, please leave comments! I take constructive criticism!
> 
> Please join my Discord server!  
https://discord.gg/eGkwayy


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